The Indonesian coach of women’s doubles badminto, Eng Hian, revealed the reason for choosing Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti as Apriyani Rahayu’s match partner. Apriyani Rahayu was previously paired with Greysia Polii since 2017. The duo has won a number of achievements including the gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. However, Apriyani’s partner in 2022 is confirmed to be not only Greysia, but also Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti.
The Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) paired Apriyani and Fadia in preparation before Greysia Polii, who is currently 34 years old, decided to retire. Apriyani will still compete with Greysia in major tournaments. Then, at other events, she will duet with Fadia to collect points for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Eng Hian explained that the selection of Fadia as Apriyani’s new partner had gone through various processes including tough discussions with the Head of Development and Achievement (Binpres), Rionny Mainaky, and PBSI administrators. According to him, Fadia’s ability is suitable for partnering with Apriyani in the field.
“I prepared four names to become Apri’s partners after Greysia retired. They are Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti, Ribka Sugiarto, Febby Valencia Dwijayanti Gani, and Putri Syaikah. Then it narrowed down to two names, namely Fadia and Ribka,” said Eng Hian. “After discussing with Binpres and the management, then Ribka’s condition was injured at the end of 2021 and needed time to recover, the choice fell to Fadia. Actually, the two players’ abilities differ slightly and both are able to become a suitable partner for Apri,” added Eng Hian.
Apriyani Rahayu/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti were originally scheduled to make their debut at the German Open which will take place on March 8-14, 2022. However, the plan did not materialize after Apriyani Rahayu suffered a right calf injury.
“Apri suffered a right calf injury a few weeks ago, but his condition is now gradually improving and has returned to training while undergoing strengthening,” said Eng Hian, who is familiarly called Didi. “I see that the standard for playing matches has not been achieved based on the results of consultations with the medical team. It is better for Apri not to play in Germany first. Hopefully he will be ready at the All England and debut with Fadia at the Swiss Open one week later.”
